Second Life Guide

Making my way through Second Life: The Official Guide, by Michael Rymaszewski et al. This is a good introduction to the idea of SL, but its not a substitute for at least a demonstration of the real thing. The book does not build a case for SL, assumes you have some enthusiasm already. Its a good skim after experiencing SL, because it will alert you to a number of things you had probably not understood. Good jump start in virtual worlds.

Graphically well done, as should be the case with a visual world. A useful appendix, but no index. Does not give you an alert to the fact that all is not running smoothly in SL of late, with slowdowns and odd behaviors. Mild cautions, but no dirt here. The advanced section on building and scripting is not a manual, but an introduction, the book points to online resources. There is an attached CD with code samples I have not examined as yet. Finally a lot of emphasis on avatar appearance, which I can find distracting.